A number of years ago I was in Russia worshiping at a church in a city just outside of Moscow. The pews were packed with worshipers excited to worship God. Following the sermon, the congregation began to sing a hymn. Although I was unfamiliar with the words they sang, I recognized the hymn tune. The song was “How Great Thou Art.” My team and I began singing the hymn in English as they sang in Russian. We raised our voices together, singing the same song at the same time, but in different languages. At that moment I thought to myself, this is what it will be like when we get to heaven.

Heaven is going to be a wonderful gathering of redeemed worshipers from every tribe, nation and tongue joining together to worship God (see Revelation 7:9). I’m not sure if we will all be singing different languages or if there will be one heavenly language, but I do believe that no matter the language, we will understand each other and we will worship together in unity. If this is what we have to look forward to, and yes I am looking forward to that day, than we might as well get used to it here on earth. That is why I am a firm believer in multi–ethnic worship.

Multi–ethnic worship ultimately encourages unity in the body of Christ as we utilize a variety of styles from various people groups. It is in our differences that we find our unity because what we have in common, redemption through the blood of Christ, is greater than all of our differences.

(Worship Quest: An Exploration of Worship Leadership, pg. 93)